What’s Doing in Canada on Its 150th Anniversary

Canada. While clichés of maple leafs, Mounties, hockey, and “Eh?” abound, the country – the world’s second largest by land area – has much to offer visitors, from the natural beauty of its national parks to cities with a culture rivaling leading European ones.

Visitors will benefit from a generous exchange rate with the U.S. dollar and Canadians are waiving admission fees to their national parks for the entire year.

It may come as a shock, but Canada is turning 150 this year. On July 1, 1867, the British North America Act was passed by the British Parliament, combining three British colonies – namely Canada (comprised of Ontario and Quebec), Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick – into the single Dominion of Canada.

The country’s sesquicentennial anniversary, also known as the 150th anniversary of Confederation, is being promoted by the Canadian government as Canada 150, and there’s a lot to celebrate.

50 years ago, Canada observed its centenary with a signature world’s fair, Expo 67, and while there’s no single event this year that will rival it, the thousands of events being held across the country will make a visit a very enjoyable experience.

The big news in the hotel world was the 2017 opening of the Gran Hotel Manzana Kempinski in Havana, the city’s first proper grande dame of a hotel to open in the island nation. Located in the historic Manzana de Gómez building, Cuba’s first shopping mall in the center of Old Havana, the hotel is truly in a class of its own.
An oasis in a city that’s somewhat crumbling and …

A more complete story of how a Horizon Air employee was able to steal, fly, and subsequently crash an aircraft taken from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport Friday evening is beginning to emerge as details come to light.
Richard B. Russell flew a Bombardier Dash 8 – Q400 turboprop plane for almost an hour over Puget Sound, even performing aerobatics, until it crashed on Ketron Island, off the shore of Steilacoom. Mr. Russell, …